Leave it to Sean Strickland to do everything and anything he can to get under the skin of his UFC 328 opponent before the Octagon door closes.
Friday’s weigh-in proceedings for the main event between Strickland, a former UFC champion, and Khamzat Chimaev, the reigning UFC middleweight champion, had plenty of intrigue to it.
Chimaev made the 185-pound weight limit for the title fight, but showed obvious signs of trouble cutting down. In fact, Strickland let it be known that he doesn’t believe Chimaev did make weight, proclaiming that he “didn’t even make weight” during the ceremonial face-offs.
Sean Strickland, Khamzat Chimaev have had issues during events all week
This all came just a day after Chimaev and Strickland had to be separated during the pre-fight press conference, which ended with the unbeaten UFC champion attempting to throw a kick towards his challenger.
Strickland took his time on the microphone to address that situation, too, saying, “This (expletive) coward tied to (expletive) kick me in the (expletive) like a (expletive) (expletive).”
Unbeaten UFC champion not into war of words with his UFC 328 opponent
Chimaev was simple and direct in response, simply saying that he is going to show everyone on Saturday night.
UFC 328 takes place from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, marking the 12th time the promotion has held an event in the city. The main card airs live on Paramount+ and also features Joshua Van defending his UFC flyweight title against Tatsuro Taira.
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